HOUSE BILL REPORT

SHB 1891

BYHouse Committee on Natural Resources & Parks (originally sponsored by Representatives Belcher, Patrick, Dorn and Ferguson)

Establishing procedures for private moorage facilities which parallel port districts.

House Committe on Natural Resources & Parks

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (9)

      Signed by Representatives Belcher, Chair; K. Wilson, Vice Chair; Beck, Ranking Republican Member; Brumsickle, Ferguson,R. Fisher, Hargrove, Raiter and Sayan.

House Staff:Jean Kelley McElroy (786-7196)

AS PASSED HOUSE MARCH 15, 1989

BACKGROUND:

In 1983, new sections were added to chapter 53.08 RCW which established procedures for port districts and public moorage facilities to collect delinquent moorage fees and to sell abandoned vessels. The sections provide for various forms of notice to be given to the owners of the vessels.  They also provide for the passage of at least 90 days while the procedures are being followed.

Before these procedures were established, the port districts and public marinas relied on a combination of statutes relating to liens and abandoned property.  Often the attorney's fees generated in trying to collect delinquent moorage fees and/or to sell abandoned vessels were greater than the value of the fees or the vessels.

The port districts report that the new statutory procedures work well and that the number of abandoned vessels and vessels with delinquent moorage fees has decreased.

Private moorage facilities were not included in the provisions of RCW 53.08.310 and 53.08.320.  Private moorage facility operators, therefore, are still dependent on a combination of statutes for establishing their rights in these matters.  Again, the cost of enforcing these statutes often outweighs the value of the fees or of the vessel.

SUMMARY:

A new chapter is added to Title 88 RCW which permits private moorage facility operators to use the procedures currently employed by port districts and public marinas for the collection of delinquent fees and for the sale of abandoned vessels.  Specifically, these procedures include (1) securing vessels for which the owner has not paid port charges after the owner has been notified that the charges are owing; (2) moving vessels to shore; (3)  determining that a vessel is abandoned; (4)  selling vessels by public sale after notification to the owner; (5)  distributing the funds received from the sale of a vessel; and (6)  having title revert to the marina operator if the vessel is not purchased or removed.  These procedures are available to marina operators only if the terms are conspicuously posted at the moorage facility or included in any contract written to cover the moorage agreement between the parties.

The types and timing of notices required are specified.  The published notice of any sale must include notice that the sale is subject to any federal maritime liens on the vessel.  Private moorage facility operators are required to provide the same notice in writing to all prospective buyers at the time of the sale.  If the operators do not provide such notice, and the purchaser of the vessel is harmed by having an existing federal maritime lien executed on that vessel, the operator is liable to the purchaser for the reasonable costs of purchasing and moving the vessel.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Don White, Washington Public Ports Association; Alexander King and Eileen Ribary, Private Marina Association.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The corresponding provisions for the public port districts have worked well and greatly reduced the number of abandoned vessels and vessels with delinquent charges.  The private moorage facility operators need some provisions for dealing with this problem.  They are currently receiving conflicting information from the Department of Licensing about how to handle this.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.